FOCUS ENTERPRISE IT UPDATE
Issue 17, August/September
FOCUS UPDATE: ENTERPRISE IT
SERVER WARS – EPISODE IV: A NEW LAWN The Mid-range IBM Z mainframe faces off against the scaled-up HP Proliant… it began a long time ago, in computer room far far away… Ambrose McNevin writes
HP still had its own PA-RISC architecture running on the HP 9000. In manufacturing terms, HP made most of its cash from printers and ink; in server market terms it was on par with companies such as Data General, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and Sun Microsystems. In Japan, Hitachi and Fujitsu worked their own server missions.
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This was no rebel alliance against an evil empire, but it could have been considered a bunch of upstarts fighting each other and a dominant leader as they battled it out in the proprietary mid-range server system market.
It couldn’t last. Order had to be restored in the server market. DEC, which for nearly two decades had dominated the mini-computer market with its VAX machines, was first gobbled up by PC maker Compaq, which in turn was swallowed by HP. Data General fell into the arms of EMC – this is where EMC sourced its mid-range Clariion storage technology, the sales of which financed its path to global storage dominance. Sun Microsystems held out the longest before accepting the effect of declining market share and surging development costs, and accepted the bid from Oracle.
These takeovers happened once Intel undersold the mini-computer market through the emergence of x86-based servers. It started with the Pentium processor, which ultimately brought us the benefits and challenges of modern data center operations. “Should have stuck with the mainframe” is the cry from within
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here was a time when IBM made most of its money from the mid- range AS/400 server. This was in the days of mini-computers, when
parts of IBM. This centralized server approach gives all the processing wallop needed without the headaches of managing vast server estates with all the related problems. Not worth the expense, says part of HP. Industry standard servers are the way to proceed. As Intel told us recently, there is US$18bn of non x86 global mission-critical server spend to go after, and it intends to attack it.
DOMINANT PLAYERS
Today, the dominant server makers are IBM and HP: Dell, Oracle and Fujitsu are the other players on the top five list.
Some recent moves in this space by the big two reveal today’s battleground is once again the mid-market. Each is determined to park its tanks firmly on the other’s lawn.
In July, IBM unveiled its mid-range Z System mainframe. The company describes it as a “system of systems”. Prices start at around $75,000 for the mid-range mainframe system called the IBM zEnterprise 114 mainframe server. The high-end Z series was introduced in July 2010.
The pitch is that mid-market users can
consolidate x86 servers around the Z series without losing the ability to run x86 applications (that is on a Linux operating system). The z114 is also designed to consolidate workloads from hundreds of x86 servers, according to IBM.
“It is projected that clients can consolidate workloads from 40 x86 processors running Oracle software on to a new z114, with just three processors running Linux. Over a three- year period, total costs for hardware, software
and support on the new z114 – compared with consolidated servers – can be up to 80% less, with similar dramatic savings on floor space and energy.”
IBM sees a big place for the system in
emerging markets, stating that governments and businesses in Cameroon, Senegal and Namibia have all recently purchased z114s.
But to really make this a mid-range player, it couldn’t ignore the x86 architecture, so it introduced support for select System x blades (IBM’s Intel chip-based servers) within the zEnterprise System.
“These select System x blades can run Linux x86 applications unchanged, and in the future will be able to run Windows applications. With these capabilities the zEnterprise System, including the new z114, can help simplify data centers with its ability to manage workloads across mainframe, POWER7 and System x servers as a single system,” IBM says.
Another feature on offer is the zEnterprise Blade Center Extension (zBX). Customers can also extend mainframe qualities, such as governance and manageability, to workloads running across multiple platforms. Up to 112 blades can be integrated and managed as part of (zBX), which allows the hybrid configuration to be managed as a single system.
“The z114 is powered by up to 14 of the industry’s most sophisticated microprocessors, of which up to 10 can be configured as specialty engines. These specialty engines, the System z Application Assist Processor (zAAP), the System z Integrated Information Processor (zIIP), and the Integrated
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